Oral-B, announced today that it will be holding, under the patronage of his Excellency the Minister of Health UAE, a “Healthy Smile Day”. His Excellency, Mr. Humaid Mohammad Obaid Al Qutami, will inaugurate the event on Friday 24th March 2006 at 02.00PM where free of charge dental check-up day will be open to all children in the UAE under the age of 12.

Dr. Ibrahim Abdulla Bin Arab, Director of Federal, Dental Department, Ministry of Health, said: “The Healthy Smile Day is very much in-line with our National Oral Care Preventive Programme, aimed at helping to minimise dental caries amongst UAE children.” He continued: ”We encourage every parent in the UAE to join and bring their children along to this fun and yet very informative event.”

According to a recent study, published by the UAE Ministry of Health, dental caries is the most common oral disease amongst UAE children. The Ministry has responded to this challenge through “The UAE National Oral Care Preventive Program”, a nation-wide initiative designed to promote pro-active oral are and help reduce the onset of Dental Caries – tooth decay caused by a build up of bacteria in the teeth and gums. The programme will enhance parental education on oral care best practices, as well as aid and encourage parents to pro-actively maintain their children’s oral health from an early stage, from milk tooth to permanent ones. Oral-B and MOH have agreed to collaborate on the National Oral Care Preventive Programme through a variety of community projects across the country.

LK Gupta, regional business manager for Oral-B Arabian Peninsula, Procter and Gamble, said:” The Healthy Smile Day is an awareness building day that encourages both, children and parents, to adopt preventive oral hygiene practices.”

Healthy Smile Day will be held on Friday, March 24th, 2006 at Zabeel Park in Bur Dubai, Entrance 1-A. Children up to the age of 12 from private and public schools will be invited to take part, as well as the general public. Children in their school uniform will be automatically admitted to the park, free of charge. Dentists and nurses from the Ministry of Health will conduct free of charge check-ups and give children a check-up card with relevant recommendations.

Gupta ended saying: ”Oral-B is committed to improving oral care for life in the communities in which it operates,” said Gupta “In practical terms, this means a close collaboration with the public sector and in-depth support of its initiatives to prevent oral disease, through education, financial support and provision of products.”

The Ministry of Health, Dental Department, has designed the Mother and Child Program for pregnant mothers and infants up to the age of three. It delivers parental education and guidance and infant oral health care education and treatment. The programme’s aim is to minimize dental caries at the earliest stages and will facilitate monitoring of oral hygiene from birth until schooling years by the Ministry, to ensure consistency and optimum results. This program is conducted at vaccination stages of both, mothers and babies at public care centers.

The Mother and Child Program is available to pregnant women in the UAE and utilises the public health permanency counselling and delivery services

Oral-B is providing the dental department with support required to educate health care specialists on oral hygiene and dental caries prevention; the company will make available a parental education portfolio resulting from years of research and experience with oral hygiene driven by Oral-B laboratories, as well as oral care products for mothers and infants.

Primary Preventive Program for ChildrenThe ministry of Health, in cooperation with the Ministry of Education, will implement this program, which is designed to follow children’s oral hygiene between the ages of four and five in public schools. The emphasis of the programme is on self-care and regular tooth-brushing, with fluoride toothpaste. The Ministry will also build a base line data to continue defining the disease development / prevention

Oral-B is supporting this program by making available bilingual parental and children education portfolio built from years of research and experience in oral hygiene in Oral-B laboratories. An educational portfolio that includes a step by step approach to teaching children oral hygiene habits will be developed by Oral-B to meet the educational requirements of nurses and supervisors. Oral-B will supply the dental department with of all products required to demonstrate healthy oral hygiene practices to school children.

Systematic Dental Disease PreventionA program designed for children between the ages of six and thirteen. Again, the programme will promote self-care and a regular brushing routine with fluoride paste. The ministry will also build a base line data to continue defining the disease development / prevention as well as the management of caries permanent teeth. Dentists from the Dental Departments will screen children and conduct clinical prevention treatment and follow up where necessary.